BILL 5
 An Act to Amend the Natural Products Act
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, enacts as follows:
1 Section 1 of the Natural Products Act, chapter N-1.2 of the Acts of New Brunswick, 1999, is amended by adding the following definitions in alphabetical order:
“farm product service officer” means a farm product service officer appointed under section 64.1; (agent du service des produits de ferme)
“peace officer” includes any peace officer as defined in the Motor Vehicle Act, any person deemed or designated to be a peace officer under the Motor Vehicle Act, any person designated as a commercial vehicle inspector for any purpose under the Highway Act or under the Motor Vehicle Act, any person appointed under subsection 5(1) of the Crown Lands and Forests Act as a forest service officer, and any person appointed under this Act as a farm product service officer; (agent de la paix)
“registration certificate”, with reference to a vehicle, means the registration certificate issued for the vehicle under the Motor Vehicle Act; (certificat d’immatriculation)
2 Paragraph 11(1)(c) of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:
(c)  to require persons engaged in the marketing or the production and marketing of a farm product, in the promotion of the consumption and use of a farm product, or in research activities pertaining to a farm product to register with the Commission, agency, board, a Crown corporation or another body or person the following information:
(i) their names;
(ii) their addresses;
(iii) the parcel identifier number or numbers assigned by Service New Brunswick to land used for the marketing or the production and marketing of a farm product, for the promotion of the consumption and use of a farm product or for research activities pertaining to a farm product or to land used for the disposal of a farm product;
(iv) their occupations; and
(v) any other information prescribed by regulation;
3 The Act is amended by adding after Part IX the following:
PART IX.1
TRANSPORTATION OF CATTLE
Definition of “manifest”
57.1 In this Part, “manifest” means a manifest required under this Part or the regulations to be completed, possessed, produced, delivered or remitted in electronic or other form.
Requirements to possess manifest
57.2(1) No person, unless exempted by the regulations, shall operate in the Province, bring into the Province or take out of the Province on a public highway, a vehicle that is carrying cattle unless the person has possession of a properly completed manifest, produces for examination the manifest and any other documentation required to be produced under this Act or the regulations and delivers them in accordance with the requirements set out in this Act and the regulations.
57.2(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), an operator of a vehicle who transports cattle through the Province from another province in Canada or another country to another province in Canada or another country without loading or offloading the cattle in the Province shall give notice to the Commission of his or her intention to do so in accordance with the regulations.
57.2(3) The form and content of manifests and other forms, records, reports, documentation or information required under this Part or the regulations, requirements relating to their distribution, completion, possession, production, collection, keeping, delivery and remittance and any other matters relating to them, may be prescribed in the regulations or described in the regulations, or the form and content, matters relating to requirements or any of the other matters may be delegated in the regulations to the Commission.
Requirements to deliver manifest
57.3(1) The operator of a vehicle to whom subsection 57.2(1) applies shall, upon the demand of a peace officer, immediately produce and deliver into the peace officer’s hands, for examination in detail by the peace officer, the properly completed manifest for the cattle carried in the vehicle, the operator’s driver’s licence and the vehicle’s registration certificate, in accordance with the requirements set out in the regulations.
57.3(2) The operator of a vehicle to whom subsection 57.2(1) applies shall, in accordance with the requirements set out in the regulations, deliver the properly completed manifest for the offloaded cattle to the owner or person in charge of any farm, abattoir, premises, other place of business or other location where the cattle are offloaded.
Obligations of operator of vehicle
57.4 The operator of a vehicle to whom subsection 57.2(1) applies shall, in accordance with the requirements set out in the regulations, complete, collect and keep manifests and remit them to the Commission.
Obligation to keep copies of manifests
57.5 An owner or person in charge of a farm, abattoir, premises, other place of business or other location where cattle are offloaded shall keep a copy of all the manifests that he or she receives for the period specified by the Commission.
Arrangements or agreements
57.6 The Commission may make or authorize to be made with any other province in Canada an arrangement or agreement respecting the exchange and sharing of documentation or information, the giving of manifests, or the imposition of requirements respecting the distribution, completion, possession, production, collection, keeping, delivery and remittance of manifests on one another’s public highways.
Delegation of powers of Commission
57.7 The Commission may delegate, in writing, any power conferred on the Commission under this Part or the regulations to an agency, board, Crown corporation or another body or person.
4 Paragraph 60(1)(e) of the Act is amended by striking out “sale records or other records or papers” and substituting “sale records, manifests, regardless of form, or other records or papers”.
5 The Act is amended by adding after Part X the following:
PART X.1
FARM PRODUCT SERVICE OFFICERS AND PEACE OFFICERS
Appointment of farm product service officers
64.1(1) The Minister may appoint the following persons as farm product service officers for the purposes of this Act:
(a)  persons employed under the Civil Service Act; and
(b)  any other persons considered by the Minister to be suitable.
64.1(2) A farm product service officer may enter upon private lands whenever necessary for the proper performance of his or her duties and functions under this Act.
64.1(3) A document in writing signed by the Chairperson appointing a person as a farm product service officer for the purposes of this Act, shall, without proof of the appointment or signature of the Chairperson, be accepted by all courts in the Province as conclusive proof of the authority stated in the document.
64.1(4) The person in possession of a written appointment shall, upon proof that his or her name is the same as the person named in the document, be deemed to be the person named in the document.
Powers of farm product service officers
64.2 A farm product service officer carrying out his or her duties and functions under this Act is a person employed for the preservation and maintenance of the public peace and has and may exercise all the powers, authorities and immunities of a peace officer as defined in the Criminal Code (Canada).
Powers of peace officers
64.3 If a peace officer reasonably believes that the operator of a vehicle is required to produce and deliver, or to deliver, a manifest in circumstances described in section 57.3, the peace officer, when on duty, has the power to require the operator of the vehicle to stop and to produce and deliver or to deliver, as the case may be, the properly completed manifest for the cattle carried in the vehicle, the operator’s driver’s licence and the vehicle’s registration certificate, as required under section 57.3.
Assistance to peace officers
64.4 The owner or person in charge of any farm, abattoir, premises, load of cattle, other place of business or other location where cattle are offloaded and any employees or agents of the owner or person in charge shall give a peace officer all reasonable assistance to enable the peace officer to carry out his or her duties and functions under this Act and shall furnish the peace officer with such documentation and information, regardless of form, as the peace officer may reasonably require.
Obstruction of peace officers
64.5(1) No person shall obstruct or hinder a peace officer in the carrying out of his or her duties and functions under this Act.
64.5(2) No person shall knowingly make a false or misleading statement, either verbally or in writing, to a peace officer engaged in carrying out his or her duties and functions under this Act.
6 Section 85 of the Act is repealed and the following is substituted:
85(1) Subject to subsection (2), a person who violates or fails to comply with any provision of the regulations commits an offence that is punishable under Part II of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category B offence.
85(2) A person who violates or fails to comply with a provision of the regulations in respect of which a category has been prescribed under paragraph 104(g.1) commits an offence of the category prescribed by regulation.
7 Section 99 of the Act is amended by adding after subsection (5) the following:
99(6) The Commission may make or authorize to be made with the Government of Canada or the government of a province an agreement respecting the exchange and sharing of information relating to land used for the marketing or the production and marketing of a farm product, for the promotion of the consumption and use of a farm product or for research activities pertaining to a farm product or to land used for the disposal of a farm product.
8 Section 104 of the Act is amended
(a)  by adding after paragraph (a) the following:
(a.1)  prescribing information for the purposes of paragraph 11(1)(c);
(b)  by adding after paragraph (e) the following:
(e.1)  exempting persons from the application of subsection 57.2(1);
(e.2)  respecting the form and content of manifests and other forms, records, reports, documentation and information for the purposes of Part IX.1, including the delegation of the establishment of their form and content to the Commission;
(e.3)  respecting requirements in relation to the distribution, completion, possession, production, collection, keeping, delivery and remittance of manifests and other forms, records, reports and other documentation and information for the purposes of Part IX.1, and respecting any other matter relating to them, including the delegation of the matters relating to the requirements or any of the other matters to the Commission;
(e.4)  respecting the giving of manifests and other forms, records, reports and other documentation and information distributed, completed, possessed, produced, collected, kept, delivered or remitted under this Act or the regulations for the purposes of Part IX.1 to another Minister of the Crown, a Crown corporation or another agency, body or person and respecting the confidentiality to be maintained in relation to such documentation or information;
(c)  by adding after paragraph (f) the following:
(f.1)  establishing requirements for and procedures in respect of the use of an electronic or computer-based system for the distribution, completion, possession, production, collection, keeping, delivery and remittance of manifests;
(d)  by adding after paragraph (g) the following:
(g.1)  prescribing, in relation to offences under the regulations, categories of offences for the purposes of Part II of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act;
9 Schedule A of the Act is amended
(a)  by adding after
55(1)...............
E
the following:
57.2(1)...............
E
57.3(1)...............
E
57.4...............
E
57.5...............
E
(b)  by adding after
64(4)...............
E
the following:
64.4...............
E
64.5(1)...............
E
64.5(2)...............
E
10 This Act or any provision of it comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by proclamation.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
Section 1
New definitions.
Section 2
The existing provision is as follows:
11(1) The Commission has the following powers: ...
(c)  to require persons engaged in the marketing or the production and marketing of a regulated product, in the promotion of the consumption and use of a farm product, or in research activities pertaining to a farm product to register their names, addresses and occupations with the Commission, agency or board;
Section 3
New provisions.
Section 4
The existing provision is as follows:
60(1) For the purposes of administering this Act and the regulations, orders and plans and ensuring compliance with this Act and the regulations, orders and plans, an inspector may at any reasonable time ...
(e)  require to be produced for inspection or for the purposes of obtaining copies or extracts, any books, shipping bills, bills of lading, sale records or other records or papers;
Section 5
New provisions.
Section 6
The existing provision is as follows:
85 Any person who violates or fails to comply with any provision of a regulation under this Act commits an offence punishable under Part II of the Provincial Offences Procedure Act as a category B offence.
Section 7
New provision.
Section 8
(a)  Regulation-making authority is added.
(b)  Regulation-making authority is added.
(c)  Regulation-making authority is added.
(d)  Regulation-making authority is added.
Section 9
(a)  Consequential amendment.
(b)  Consequential amendment.
Section 10
Commencement provision.